Welding electrode holder



Aug. 25, 1942. w. c. SCHULFER, .JRr

WELDING ELECTRODE HOLDER Filed July 25, 1941 Patented Aug. 25, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,294,321 WELDING ELECTRODE HOLDER Walter c. schuuer, Jr., summit, nl. Application .'uly 25, 194,1, Serial No. 403,939

z claims. (CL 21e-s) The present invention relates to welding electrode holders of the type used by electric Welders both as a handle by which the welding rod o1' electrode is held and also as a means for connecting the welding cable to the welding rod.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved welding electrode holder which is comparatively simple in construction and light in weight and avoids the bulkiness usually associated with devices of this type.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel electrode holder with means by which a welding cable may be quickly attached to any one of several electrode holders.

Still another object of the present invention isl danger oi injury to the Welder.

In the drawing in which similar characters of V'reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views: A v

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an electrode holder embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the holder shownl in elevation in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view which may be considered as taken in the direction of the arrows substantially along the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view through a portion of the device -and may be considered as taken in the direction of the arrows along the line 6 4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. is a plan view of onev of the electrode holding jaws. This view may be considered as taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 looking downwardly, as indicated by the arrows. Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that .the electrode holder there shown is comprised tegrally with a rearwardly extending channelshaped arm portion IS. Between thesetwo portions, an integrally formed upwardly extending ear I8 serves as one element of a hinge for pivotally connecting the lower member IIl'to the upper member I2 in a manner to be described presently. At its rearward end the channelshaped arm I6 is formed integrally with a rearwardly extending spider portion 20 which ts within and is entirely covered by an insulating sleeve 22 formed of hard fiber or other suitable material. 'Ihis hard fiber sleeve 22 extends somewhat rearwardly of the portion 20 and is secured thereto by a screw 24 which extends through the sleeve 22 and into the portion 2l and has its head countersunk below the outer surface of the sleeve.

The upper member I2 is generally similar` to the lower member I0 and has a jaw 26 formed integrally with a rearwardly extending channelshaped arm 28 which, at its rearward end, stops short by a matter of a half inch or so oi' the forward end of the rearwardly extending portion 20 formed with the lower member I6. Instead of having a single centrally located ear Il, as does `the lower member, the upper member is provided with a pair oi ears 30, which extend downwardly upon each side of the central ear I8 and are pivoted thereto by means of a transverselyextending screw 32. Thus, by depressing the arml 28 of the upper element I2 relative to the lower arm I6, the jaws 26 and I4 are separated, while when the arms I6 and 28 are separatedv the jaws I4 and 26 are` brought together.

'A single U-shaped leaf spring 34 isiiexed and inserted between the rearwardly extending arms I6 and 26. It thus urges these arms apart and thereby causes the jaws I4 and 26 to approach each other. 'Ihis leaf spring 34 ts within the channels in the contiguous faces of the arms I6 and 28 and thus is limited in its side to side movement. It is limited in its forward movement by the ear I8 formed upon the lower member I6, and it cannot moverearwardly, since the lower channel of the strip, I6 is provided with a stop 36 formed during the casting process. Once in place, therefore, the spring'will not accidentally become disassociated with the other elements of the apparatus,

The two principal members of the device, that is, the lower member III and the upper member I2 are so proportioned that when the jaws Il and 26 are spaced apart the required distance to hold a comparatively small welding rod, the rearwardly extending arms I6 and 28 will be substantially parallel. With the device as thus proportioned, it will be seen that the total dimension fromtop 4to bottom need not be great. When 4larger welding rods are used, the jaws 26 and Il will, vof course, be spaced a greater distance. Under tlese conditions, the rearwardly extending arms I6 and 28 will be closer together than in the first example. In order to permit a spacing apart of the jaws, anamount greater than thrt required for a rod of minimum size without ap- `preciably increasing the top to bottom dimension of the/device, the outer surfaces of the jaws i4` and ,26 taper toward the end so that as the jaws are spaced apart, the outer surfaces of these noses tend toward parallelism. Thus the jaws may be spaced apart a distance sufficient to permit the admission of welding rods of severalsizes without vap'preciably affecting the overall top to bottom dimension of the electrode holder.

28 and the handle attachment member 26, thusI effectively preventing the welders fingers or a portion of the welders clothing from becoming caught under the rearward end of the upper arm 28.

The rearward portion 20 is provided with a conical socket 40 extending thereinto and .into which is fitted a conical plug 42 of an electrical cable connector. The conical plug of the connector, at its rearward end, carries a spider-like structure 44, which, in turn, is provided with a comparatively deep generally cylindrical recess 46. The .uninsulated end of the welding cable is inserted into this recess 46, the cable being securely pressed into contact with the side walls thereof-by means of a set screw 48. If desired' section and what -beyond the edges of the metal portion of are attached to the castings by means of flat head countersunk screws 58, all of which extend through the strips and are threaded into the castings, excepting the forwardmost of these screws. The latter extend through the jaws i4 and 26 and are threaded into the removable blocks I. They, therefore, serve the dual purpose of securing both thestrips and the blocks 5t to the cast- The strips 56 are generally rectangular in cross extend outwardly at each side somethe device and effectively prevent the work becoming accidentally burned by careless maniputhe cable connector may be dispensed with and) 45 the end of the cable inserted directly into socket 40 and secured there by solder or otherappropriate means. A second cylindrical sleeve of hard fiber or other insulating material 53 surrounds the Welding cableterminal thus provided and is secured thereto by means of a at head countersunk screwv 52.

In assembling this portion of the apparatus,

lthe cable is first inserted into the recess 46 and the set screw 58 tightened to secure the end of the cable therein. Then with the cable attached to the terminal, the terminal is slid endwise into the sleeve 50 and secured in place by means of the screw 52. The sleeve 50, therefore, serves as a handle by means of which the terminal 4d can be handled and the conical plug d2 wrung into place within the socket d. With the plug thus fitted into the socket, the sleeve 56 serves as a continuation of the handle 22. The jaws i4 and 26 are equipped with removable blocks 54 which are serrated to grip the welding electrode in any one of several positions and are secured in place in recesses in the jaws by means of screws extending inwardly through/ lation of the electrode holder. That is, if the device when in the position shown in Fig. 1, for instance, is brought either upwardly or downwardly against the work being welded, these strips prevent contact between the work and the metallic portions of the device. Similarly, movement of the device in a sidewise direction against the work will cause the work to be impinged by the edges of the insulating strips 56 before the work comes into contact with the metallic parts. 'I'hus bythe expedient of attaching insulating.strips wider than the metal parts to the extreme top and bottom surfaces of the device, adequate protection against work damages under normal circumstances is provided without the use of complicated insulating material shapes or other parts, necessitating expensive manufacturing processeail Preferably the jaw members In and I2 are` coated-as by spraying-with a suitable electrical insulating and molten metal non-adherent varnish, the latter property eliminating or lessening the metal being welded from adhering to the jaws of the tool during the splash incident to the-welding operation.

From the above, it will be seen that I have provided a welding electrode holder which adequately serves the purpose for which it is intended and which carries out all of the objectives set forth for it at an earlier portion ofthis specification. It will be observed that the holder as a whole is streamlined in that it has no laterally projecting parts that might interfere with the operator grasping the tool in any region he may desire, or that might catch upon gloyes lor other articles of clothing.

. as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters the` jaws. A pair of at strips 56 of hard fiber or 70 other insulating material, somewhat wider than the jaws and rearwardly extending arms I6 and 26 are secured in face to face contact with the upper faces of the jaws I4 and 26 and extend rearwardly over the armsr i6 and 28. These Strips Patent of the United States is:

,1. In a welding electrode holder, a pair of jaws for clamping van electrode, arms extending rearwardly from said jaws, .hinge means connecting said arms at a point adjacent said jaws, said arms being substantially parallel when said jaws are closed and one of said arms being materially longer than the other, the longer of said arms having a portion offset into substantial alignment with, and closely adjacent to, the rearward end of the shorter of said arms when said jaws are closed, and the handle surrounding the rearward end ofthe longer of said arms including said onset portion, whereby said holder is substantially smooth in configuration on both sides and is symmetrical in formation without projecting elements. v

2. In a welding electrode holder, a pair of jaws for clamping an electrode, arms extending rearwardly from said jaws, hinge means connecting said armsat a point adjacent said jaws, said arms having grooves in their adjacent faces rearwardly of said hinge means, a le spring arranged with its arms in said grooves, said arms being subaachen y I 3 stantially parallel when said Jaws are closed and handle surrounding the rearward end oi.' the one of said arms being materially longer than -longer of said arms including said offset portion,

the`other, the longer ot said arms having its. whereby said,holder is substantially smooth inrearward portion offset into substantial allgnconfiguration on b'oth sides and is symmetrical ment-with, and closely adjacent to, the rearward 5 in formation without projecting elements which end of the shorter oi' said arms when said jaws yxmight cause vinterference when the device is in are closed, so as to provide a substantially uninuse.

L tbrrupted surface extending rearwardly from the WALTER C. SCHUIFER, Ja. outer surface oi the shorter of said arms, and a 

